Canopy door

ABSTRACT

Operating mechanism for a door movable between a lower generally vertical closed position and an upper generally horizontal open position. The door is guided through its opening movement by means including a follower on its upper edge which engages a fixed guide. A brace arm is pivoted at one end to the door at a point between its upper and lower edges, and has means at the other end engaging a second fixed guide. A second arm has one end pivoted at a fixed point and the other end pivoted to an intermediate point on the brace arm.

0 United States Patent 1191 [111 3,908,310

Davidson Sept. 30, 1975 CANOPY DOOR Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey [75]inventor: Charles S. Davidson, Troy, Mich. g lli' Fi"mwhittemorc-Hulbert &

e map [73] Assignee: Byrne Doors, lne., Ferndale Mich.

221 Filed: June 10, 1974 ABSTRACT [21} pp NO: 478,005 Operatingmechanism for a door movable between a lower generally vertical closedposition and an upper generally horizontal open position. [22] U.S.CClLThe door is guided through its Opening movement by L H 9 97 40 meansincluding a follower on its upper edge which [58} leld o earch engages afixed guide. A brace arm is pivoted at one end to the door at a pointbetween its upper and lower [56,] References cued edges, and has meansat the other end engaging a UNITED STATES PATENTS second fixed guide. Asecond arm has one end pivoted 262 789 8/1882 Kaufman 49/355 at a fixedpoint and the other end pivoted to an 2.023.193 12/1 35 yrn 49/197intermediate point on the brace arm. 2.178.137 10/1939 Byrnc 49/205OTHER PUBLICATIONS Architectural Record, July. 1943. pp. 78-80. HangarDoor Details.

12 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures I\ T\ l I A l I I l i l l I I i/ AL L l: 1Z

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Sept. 30,1975

US. Patent Sheet 3 of 3 US. Patent Sept. 30,1975

CANOPY noon BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE. INVENTION The operatingmechanism of this invention is extremely simple and yet highly effectivein controlling the movement of a door from closed to open position. Theoperating mechanism has linkage which not only assists in controllingthe movement of the door but also transfers the wind load to thebuilding steel without any side or jamb guides.

All of the linkage for controlling the opening and closing movements ofthe door is disposed on the inside of the door. The door is preferablyslotted in order to clear portions of such linkage when the door isopened. Slot covers are provided which effectively exclude the weatherwhen the door is closed. The guiding of the door during its opening andclosing movements is effected entirely without any side or jamb guides.Since side or jamb guides are not used, it is possible to have a dooropening of unlimited size.

This invention represents an improvement over one of my own priorpatents, namely U.S. Pat., No.

3,413,757. In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary semidiagrammatic front elevational view of abuildingsuch as a truck warehouse or an aircraft hangarhaving an openingclosed by a plurality of doors provided with operating mechanismconstructed in accordance with my invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1 showing one ofthe doors in closed position and also illustrating the operatingmechanism of my invention.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view as seen on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 2 but shows the door in open position.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIG 2.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view with parts in elevation taken onthe line 6-6 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view with parts in section and parts inelevation taken on the line 77 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view with parts in section and parts inelevation taken on the line 8-8 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view in elevation taken on the line 9--9 in FIG.2.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 10-10 in FIG.1.

The door operating mechanism of this invention is provided to move adoor from a lower generally upright closed position with respect to abuilding opening to an upper generally horizontal position, and tocontrol the angular position of the door throughout its entire movement.While particularly adapted for use with doors of the type generally usedon truck warehouses and aircraft hangars, obviously the invention may beapplied to doors used for any purpose.

As viewed in FIG. 1, a plurality of substantially identical doors D, D1,D2, etc., arranged in side edge to side edge relation in a row areprovided to close an opening 12 in a building B. This opening is astandard rectangular opening, although of considerable horizontalextent, being defined at the top of the horizontal building member 14and at each side uprights such as the upright 16. The space between thepairs of adjacent side edges of the doors when all are closed may besealed by providing a rubber boot, for example, on one each of suchpairs of adjacent edges. These doors D, D1, D2, etc., are individuallyoperable so that one or more may be opened while the others remainclosed and vice versa, each such door having its own individualoperating and guiding mechanism. There are no side or jamb guidesbetween doors, so that when two .or more adjacent doors are opened, abroad, unobstructed opening is provided.

The doors D, D1, D2, etc., may be of any suitable construction and arehere shown as having laterally spaced vertical stiles 17 supporting afront panel 19.

One door and its operating and guiding mechanism will now be described,it being understood that all of the doors may be and preferably aresimilarly operated and guided. As seen in FIG. 2, the door D is shownclosed and in such condition is disposed vertically with its upper edgecontacting a veather seal 18 fixed to the building member 14 across thetop of the opening. A rubber boot 20, preferably provided along thelower edge of the door, contacts the ground G as in FIG. 2 when the dooris closed.

The door D is raised from its vertical closed position of FIG. 2 to itsopen horizontal position shown in FIG. 4 by operating mechanismincluding the cables C. In the present instance four such cables C areprovided for each door and conjomtly operated. One end of each suchcable is connected to the door D by a pivotal connection indicated at22, preferably substantially midway between the upper and lower edges ofthe door. These cables C extend vertically upwardly from their pivotalconnections 22 over sheaves 24 fixed to the building and then rearwardlyto a suitable operating mechanism 26. These cables C exert substantiallya direct vertical lifting force upon the door during its entire openingmovement because the control of the angular position of the door duringits opening movement is such that the point of the pivotal connection 22moves along substantially a vertical path. The door is held in its openhorizontal position of FIG. 4 by the tension in the cables C, and isallowed to return to its vertical closed position by paying out thecables.

The operating and guiding mechanism for the door D comprises one or morelinkages 29 each including a brace arm or strut 30 and a second arm 32.In the present instance, two such linkages 29 are provided for eachdoor, although only one may be seen in the drawings.

One end of the brace arm 30 is pivotally connected to the door D whereindicated at 34 by a bracket 35 mounted on a structural member 36 of thedoor. The pivot 34 is preferably located at about the level of thepivotal connections 22 for the cables. A dolly 38 is pivoted to theother end of the brace arm 30 where indicated at 40 and has rollers 42which run in a channel guide 44 affixed within the building by means ofthe supports 46. This channel guide is disposed in a plane at rightangles to the plane of the building opening. It lies wholly within thebuilding and is inclined upwardly slightly with respect to thehorizontal from its inner end 50 to its outer end 52. The dolly 38 isguided in the channel guide 44 during the entire opening and closingmovement of the door.

The second arm 32 has one end pivoted where indicated at 56 to a fixedsupport 58 within the building. The pivot point 56 is in the plane ofthe door when the door is closed. The other end of arm 32 is pivoted at60 to the bracket 62 on the brace arm 30, pivot 60 being substantiallyequidistant from pivots 34 and 40. The pivots 34, 40, 56 and 60 at theends of arms 30 and 32 are horizontal and parallel to the buildingopening.

As noted above two such linkages 29 are preferably employed for eachdoor, and of course a separate channel guide 44 is provided for eachlinkage.

A roller 64 is mounted on the upper edge of the door D adjacent eachside edge of the door. Each such roller engages in and is guided by aroller guide 66 affixed within the building and of the form shown inFIGS. 2 and 4. Each such roller guide 66 will be seen to have at itsouter end over the door opening a substantially vertical section 68which extends upwardly. From that point, the guide curves inwardly andupwardly where indicated at 70, after which it turns downwardly as shownat 72. Such channel guides 66 are of the same construction and aredisposed in laterally spaced vertical planes at right angles to theplane of the door opening. The rollers 64 are guided by the rollerguides 66 throughout the entire opening and closing movements of thedoor.

The dotted line indicated at 76 in FIG. 2 traces the initial path of thelower edge portion of the door as the door is opened. As there seen, thelower edge of the door rises vertically initially and then swingsoutwardly during further opening movement. This initial substantiallystraight vertical rise of the lower edge of the door may be a distance,for example, of four to eight inches and allows the door to clear apossible accumulation of snow on the ground before swinging outwardly.The initial substantially vertical movement of the lower edge of thedoor is accomplished by the unique relationship of the parts of theoperating mechanism disclosed whereby the upper edge of the doorinitially moves substantially vertically due to the substantiallyvertical sections 68 of the roller guides 66 and also because of thesubstantially vertical movement of the mid-portion of the door ascontrolled by the arms 30 and 32 of linkage 29.

During the entire opening movement of the door its upper edge will beguided by the roller guides 66 in which the door rollers 64 are engaged.The dolly 38 on the end of the brace arm 30 will move from the positionshown in FIG. 2 to the right continuously until it reaches the positionshown in FIG. 4 when the door is fully opened. The arm 32 during thistime will pivot counterclockwise from the FIG. 2 position to the FIG. 4position. The midpoint of the door will experience virtually no inwardor outward movement, so that the pivotally connected points 22 for thecables will move along a substantially vertical line and the cables willapply substantially a direct vertical pull on the door at all times.

All of the operating and guiding mechanism for the door is locatedinside the building when the door is closed.

The upper portion of the front panel of each door is formed withlaterally spaced narrow vertical slots or recesses 80 which extenddownward from the upper edge. The slots 80 are aligned with linkages 29and are provided to clear the arms 32 when the door is opened. As shownin FIG. 2, the arm 32 is onthe inside of the door when the door isclosed. However, when the door is opened, the arms 32 move through theslots to the outside of the door as seen in FIG. 4. The slots 80 areprovided to clear the arms 32 and also brackets 62 and are formed so asto be just long enough and wide enough for that purpose. When the dooris closed, these slots are sealed by flaps 82 and 84. Flaps 82 and 84may be identical vertical strips of rubber or like flexible sealingmaterial secured to the front surface of the panel 19 of the door alongthe opposite side edges of each slot from the top to the bottom thereof.The flaps 82 and 84 are wide enough to overlap and sea] as in FIG. 10when the door is closed. They will flex to allow the arm 32 and also itsconnecting bracket 62 to project through the slot apparent from FIGS. 4and 6 when the door is open. It will be noted in FIG. 6 that in theclosed position of the door, the brace arms 30 lie between adjacentstiles 19 but beneath the front door panel 19.

The dimensional relationship between the parts of the linkage and theform and construction of the channel guides may vary, keeping in mindthat it is desired that the point in the height of each door where thecables are connected at 22, represented by the door member 36, shouldmove in a more or less true vertical path during opening and closingmovements. This is accomplished in the present instance by guidesconstructed and arranged as shown and by utilizing an arm 32 having alength between pivots 56 and 60 which is substantially equal to thedistance between pivots 34 and 60 on brace arm 30, so that the pivots34, 56 and 60 form an isosceles triangle. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 4,pivots 34 and 56 lie on substantially a vertical line both in the openedand in the closed positions of the door. Guide 44 is shaped to controlthe orientation of arm 30 so that pivot 34 moves along suchsubstantially vertical line during the entire movement of the doorbetween opened and closed positions. It will be further noted that thedistance between pivots 56 and 60 of arm 32 is substantially equal tothe distance between pivots 40 and 60 of brace arm 32 so that pivots 40,56 and 60 form an isosceles triangle. Such pivots 40, 56 and 60 lie onsubstantially a straight line in the open door position (see FIG. 4).

It should be noted that there are no side guides or jamb guides betweendoors. Such guides are not needed because the linkage alone issufficient to support the doors firmly in their closed positions evenunder high wind loading. Wind load is transferred to the building steelby the control linkage. The pressure of wind pushing horizontallyagainst a door would not tend to open it because initial openingmovement of the center of the door is in a vertical direction. Theelimination of side or jamb guides has the advantage of making itpossible to provide an unobstructed opening of unlimited size.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A braced door construction for a building opening comprising a singleleaf canopy door having a vertical dimension substantially equal to thatof said building opening, said door being movable between a lowerupright closed position extending from top to bottom of said opening andan upper substantially horizontal open position disposed near the top ofsaid opening, operating and guiding mechanism for said door comprisingmeans for raising said door from its lower to its upper position. afirst guide fixed with respect to said building, a follower mounted onthe upper edge of said door and engaging said first guide for movementtherealong, said first guide having a generally vertical portion engagedby said follower during initial opening movement of said door. a secondguide fixed with respect to said building, a brace arm, first pivotmeans pivoted at one end of said brace arm to said door, means at theother end of said brace arm engaging said second guide for movementtherealong, a second arm, second pivot means pivoting one end of saidsecond arm to the building, and third pivot means pivoting the other endof said second arm to said brace arm, said brace arm and said second armforming an acute angle with one another in the closed position of saiddoor.

2. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 1, wherein saidmeans for raising the door includes a flexible linear member connectedto the door so as to apply a direct vertical lift thereon to raise thesame.

3. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 1, wherein saidfirst pivot means is located intermediate the upper and lower edges ofthe door, and said third pivot means is located intermediate the ends ofsaid brace arm.

4. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 3, wherein thedistance between said first and third pivot means is substantially equalto the distance between said second and third pivot means.

5. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 4, wherein saidsecond guide guides the movement of said means at the other end of saidbrace arm in such a manner as to cause said first pivot means to movesubstantially vertically during opening movement of the door.

6. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 3, wherein saidmeans at said other end of said brace arm is pivoted to said other endof said brace arm by a fourth pivoted means, and the distance betweensaid second and third pivot means is substantially equal to the distancebetween said first and third pivot means.

7. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 3, wherein thedistances between said first and third pivot means, between said secondand third pivot means, and between said third and fourth pivot means aresubstantially equal.

8. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 7, wherein saidsecond guide is arranged to control the orientation of said brace arm sothat said first pivot means is required to move along a substantiallyvertical line during door opening movement.

9. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 8, wherein saidsecond pivot means lies on said substantially vertical line.

10. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 9, wherein thedoor has a recess in its upper edge to clear said second arm during dooropening movement.

11. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 10, whereinmeans are provided to close said recess when the door is closed.

12. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 3, wherein thedoor has a recess to clear said second arm during door opening movement.

1. A braced door construction for a building opening comprising a singleleaf canopy door having a vertical dimension substantially equal to thatof said building opening, said door being movable between a lowerupright closed position extending from top to bottom of said opening andan upper substantially horizontal open position disposed near the top ofsaid opening, operating and guiding mechanism for said door comprisingmeans for raising said door from its lower to its upper position, afirst guide fixed with respect to said building, a follower mounted onthe upper edge of said door and engaging said first guide for movementtherealong, said first guide having a generally vertical portion engagedby said follower during initial opening movement of said door, a secondguide fixed with respect to said building, a brace arm, first pivotmeans pivoted at one end of said brace arm to said door, means at theother end of said brace arm engaging said second guide for movementtherealong, a second arm, second pivot means pivoting one end of saidsecond arm to the building, and third pivot means pivoting the other endof said second arm to said brace arm, said brace arm and said second armforming an acute angle with one another in the closed position of saiddoor.
 2. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim 1, whereinsaid means for raising the door includes a flexible linear memberconnected to the door so as to apply a direct vertical lift thereon toraise the same.
 3. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim1, wherein said first pivot means is located intermediate the upper andlower edges of the door, and said third pivot means is locatedintermediate the ends of said brace arm.
 4. The operating and guidingmechanism defined in claim 3, wherein the distance between said firstand third pivot means is substantially equal to the distance betweensaid second and third pivot means.
 5. The operating and guidingmechanism defined in claim 4, wherein said second guide guides themovement of saId means at the other end of said brace arm in such amanner as to cause said first pivot means to move substantiallyvertically during opening movement of the door.
 6. The operating andguiding mechanism defined in claim 3, wherein said means at said otherend of said brace arm is pivoted to said other end of said brace arm bya fourth pivoted means, and the distance between said second and thirdpivot means is substantially equal to the distance between said firstand third pivot means.
 7. The operating and guiding mechanism defined inclaim 3, wherein the distances between said first and third pivot means,between said second and third pivot means, and between said third andfourth pivot means are substantially equal.
 8. The operating and guidingmechanism defined in claim 7, wherein said second guide is arranged tocontrol the orientation of said brace arm so that said first pivot meansis required to move along a substantially vertical line during dooropening movement.
 9. The operating and guiding mechanism defined inclaim 8, wherein said second pivot means lies on said substantiallyvertical line.
 10. The operating and guiding mechanism defined in claim9, wherein the door has a recess in its upper edge to clear said secondarm during door opening movement.
 11. The operating and guidingmechanism defined in claim 10, wherein means are provided to close saidrecess when the door is closed.
 12. The operating and guiding mechanismdefined in claim 3, wherein the door has a recess to clear said secondarm during door opening movement.